Another Reason to Go to New Zealand

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I’ve always wanted to to visit New Zealand, a country known for its diverse climates and beautiful scenery. But now I’m thinking about moving there. I feel fortunate to live in America and enjoy many civil liberties that people in oppressed countries can only dream about. However, I’m frustrated by the political rhetoric in our increasingly ineffective government and I’m tired of our society’s intellectual and spiritual decline. The Book of Mormon prophet Jacob offers some perspective in 2 Nephi 10 when he says that America will be a land of liberty that is protected against other nations by God their king.  Lehi says in 2 Nephi 1 that God will lead immigrants into the country and that America will remain a land of liberty as long as people serve God and keep his commandments. If people sin, however, then they will not prosper but will suffer at the hands of other nations. This is just my speculation, but I think that the political, economic, and social problems in the U.S. stem from an increasingly unrighteous society. Maybe this is God’s way of punishing us. Meanwhile, New Zealand was ranked #1 on this year’s Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) Report, which “ranks countries and territories according to their perceived levels of public sector corruption.” The central message of this year’s report was that “more transparency and accountability is needed from our leaders,” and the report especially emphasized the low rankings of Arab Spring countries. New Zealand is also ranked #5 on last year’s Human Development Indicator (HDI), a United Nations program designed to measure national development not only with conventional figures like GDP but also with “three basic dimensions of human development: health, education and income.” As a comparison, the U.S. ranked #24 on the CPI and #4 on the HDI. In sum, New Zealand has a clean, efficient government and a high standard of living. These are logical reasons to move there. My personal reasons to move there are (1) I love New Zealand accents, especially Maori accents, (2) Real men play rugby not football (haha), and (3) the haka is so cool. So kia ora Aotearoa (hello New Zealand), someday.


photo: predictweather.com